“Phase Two,” I said. “Let’s go see whether it works.”
“I think it will work,” the sheriff said. “You’ve done the hard part.”
I looked at him. “There’s no way you could have learned our plans. No way.”
“That’s right.”
“But you know us so well–you’re so superior–that you knew exactly what we were going to do.”
“I would not put it so harshly. But yes, I was told to expect rebellion and perhaps violence, and advised not to resist.”
“And the rest of it? What we’re about to do?”
“That’s a mystery to me, or conjecture; I was asked not to tap the Whole Tree, so I wouldn’t know too much.”
“But the others know. Or think they know.”
“I’ve said too much. Just continue with what you’re doing. You may learn from it.”
“You may learn something,” Max said.
“Let’s move along,” Marygay said. “Whatever they’ve got set up for us, whatever they think they know, it doesn’t change Phase Two.”
“You’re wrong,” Max said. “We should find out what we can from this bastard. We can’t lose anything by squeezing him.”
“Or gain anything,” the sheriff said. “I’ve told you all I know.”
“Let’s find out,” Roberta said. “Max is right. Nothing to lose.”
“A lot to lose,” I said. “You sound like my old drill sergeants. This is a negotiation, not a war.”
“They were threatening to kill us,” Po said. “If it’s not a war, it’s something close to it.”
Marygay came to my rescue. “Leave it as an option. Right now, I think we’re ahead for not having hurt or coerced him.”
“Other than beating him up and tying him down,” Roberta said.
“If we ultimately have to force information out of him,” Marygay pushed on, “then we can do it. Right now we have to act, not talk.” She rubbed her face. “Besides, they probably have their own hostage by now. Jynn couldn’t get far in that floater.”
“Jynn killed one of them,” Max said. “She’s dead meat.”
“You shut up, Max.”
“If she’s alive, she’s a liability.”
“Shut up.”
“You home cunts,” Max said. “You always–”
“My wife is not a cunt or a home.” I tried to keep my voice down. “When we walk through that door she’ll be your commander.”
“And I have no problem with that. I had a long career and never saw a het commander. But if you think she’s het, you’re blind as a worm.”
“Max,” Marygay said quietly, “my heart has been het and home and irrelevant, as now. William is in charge on this ship, and you’re being insubordinate.”
“You’re right,” he said flatly. To me: “I lost my head and I apologize. Too much has happened, too fast. And I haven’t been a soldier since before my kids were born.”
“Me neither,” I said, and didn’t push it. “Let’s just move.”
On the other side of the airlock, we expected it to be dark and cool, the minimum-energy mode we’d last left it in. But the artificial sun was bright and the air was warm and fragrant with growing things.
And there was a Tauran waiting for us on the shipside landing, unarmed. It made their sign of greeting, hugging itself. “You know me,” it said. “Antres 906. Are you the leader, William Mandella?”
I looked beyond it to the well-tended fields. “What the hell is this?”
“I speak right now only to the leader. Are you he?”
“No.” I put my hand on Marygay’s shoulder. She was also staring, stunned. “My wife.”
“Marygay Potter. Come with me to the control room.”
“They’re ready to ride,” Max said behind me. “Straight to Earth.” They’d told us there would be several weeks of tending to the life-support farms, before we went into suspended animation. This looked like we were headed straight to the tanks.
“How many are here, Antres?” Marygay said.
“No one else.”
“This took a lot of people.”
“Come with me.” She followed Antres to the lift, and I came along, both of us struggling with the zerogee nets. Antres was deft with them, but elaborately slow.
We went up to the command level and picked our way into the control room. The center screen was lit, with the image of an older male Man, perhaps one we had talked to in Centrus.